Tag Archives: Ellie Gay-Killeen

Three teams came into this afternoon’s boys/girls cross country meet undefeated.

Now only the Triton girls (7-0) and the Newburyport boys (8-0) are unbeaten.

Both squads dominated the top finishers at Old Town Hill in Newbury on a very hot/sunny Wednesday afternoon.

Ellie Gay-Killeen won by almost a minute

Sam Acquaviva wins another race

Ellie Gay-Killeen and Sarah Harrington were 1-2 for Triton while Sam Acquaviva, John Lucey, and Dreese Fadil were 1-2-3 for Newburyport.

The Triton girls won 25-30 while the Newburyport boys won 22-33.

“Our girls were tough in the heat,” said Vikings coach Joe Colbert. “The conditions were brutal. We run this course well. It was a great win for us because Newburyport (7-1) is a very good team.”

The 3.1 mile course gave the Clippers problems. “It was super hilly,” said 4th place finisher Ellie Schulson afterwards. “The sun was in your eyes when you were going up the hill and you couldn’t see your footing. I fell down.”

Ellie Schulson

“They had those two girls up front that are tough to beat,” added NHS coach Don Hennigar. “If you go 1-2 it doesn’t seal it but it’s awfully tough to come back. On another day, at another place, it could all be different since the teams are that close.”

The race winner (Ellie Gay-Killeen) agreed with the consensus about the conditions: “It was a tough, tough race but I have always gained ground on the hills here. I was not on my best pace at all but we’re still undefeated.” Ellie finished nearly a minute ahead of teammate Sarah Harrington.

Coach Colbert said he wasn’t surprised by the 1-2 finish although he said that Newburyport runners (Lindsey Roberts and Ellie Schulson) pushed Sarah Harrington.

Coach Colbert gave credit to Kylie Lorenzo (5th) and Kerry Powers (7th): “Kylie and Kerry had huge days for us. They passed some girls in the end and it really made a difference.”

Senior Sam Acquaviva hasn’t lost a race in Massachusetts in a while and that run of top finishes continued today. “I wanted to get the lead early and keep it,” Sam told me afterwards. “The course was tough. As a team we wanted to win this one badly and we did.”

Sam told me that he had just taken a visit to MIT. “I like the cross country team there,” he said, “but to get into MIT is a task unto itself. I am interested in engineering, so it would be a good fit for me.”

Dreese Fatil finished 3rd

Getting the top three places was key for the Clippers. “They all stepped up,” said Coach Hennigar. “Dreese Fatil getting third was huge for us. To beat Triton on their course was special.”

Keegan Ritchie, Diego Fernandez, and Tyler Stranc finished 4-5-6 for Triton (6-2) but to win this meet they needed someone to break into the top three and that didn’t happen on this afternoon.

All sorts of side things went on during today’s meet. The heat caught up to several participants and several ambulances were put to use. There also was a vehicle accident on Newman Street during the meet.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

(Newbury MA) I went to an important cross country meet today between two of the area’s top teams (Triton and Newburyport) but came away marveling at the wonderful actions of one of the participants.

The grandparent in me said, “What she did is role model material. Write about it and later do a separate entry on the running results.” And so I will.

The temperatures were in the 80’s at Old Town Hill in Newbury where Wednesday afternoon’s meet was held.

“It seems as if every time we run this season, it’s been hot, but it doesn’t make it any easier doing it,” said Clippers coach Don Hennigar afterwards.

Most of the Cape Ann League courses are in the woods where, even on a hot day, it’s shady.

So the heat was on. It would have negative effects on many of the participants.

For Newburyport senior Katherine Sheehy the heat turned nightmarish and down she went about fifty yards from the end of the 3.1 mile race.

There were adults quickly on the scene and medical help was soon there. But beyond that there came a runner from Triton.

I wanted to talk to that runner because she had minutes before won the girls’ race. But she wouldn’t leave the side of a Newburyport girl stretched out near the finish line.

I then assumed that the Newburyport girl was a friend of hers. After all there is plenty of interaction between the teams.

Finally an ambulance arrived and the Newburyport runner was lifted to the ambulance with the Triton runner on hand making sure that the Newburyport girl was taken care of.

A few minutes later I was able to talk to the Triton runner (Ellie Gay-Killeen) about what had happened. This is what she told me: “I didn’t really know the girl very well, but I’ve known her from track. I think her name is Katherine (Sheehy). I would always try to help someone in that situation. It’s good sportsmanship. Seeing a girl down for forty-five minutes makes my heart throb. I stuck with her the whole time to make sure she was okay. I don’t know her well but she’s a talented athlete. Seeing her collapse before the finish line meant she was obviously hurting, so I had to do something. Someone said that I shouldn’t touch her, or I’d be disqualified but I didn’t care. She needed help, so I ran over and helped her.”

Remarkable stuff from a high school freshman, don’t you think? The young lady is already the kind of caring person you must admire. I’m quite sure that most of you parents and grandparents out there would agree with that.

Ellie Gay-Killeen – Thanks for exhibiting such care and kindness. You are indeed a good role model.